Harmon stoker coal burning stove

We recently purchased a Harmon Stoker Coal burning stove. We have built a coal bin yet so we bought bagged coal. For some reason we are unable to start the coal burning. We have tried charcoal and a propane torch but it just will not start.
Anyone have any ideas that will help.

Thanks in advance
Dustbunny

After two days of attempting to light the coal, husband just got it going. Seems as though the thermostat was not working. It was the only thing we had not checked. Fortunately we had a spare. Talk about frustrating.

Thanks anyhow
Dustbunny

dustbunny wrote: Talk about frustrating.

Can be for the novice. Depending on your stove the key is to get a very hot wood fire going. There's a product others have mentioned called a "Coal Mouse" that many have had success with.

Thanks for that info, have made a note of it.

Dustbunny

What model stoker did u get???
I have the magnum stoker from harman. The coal mice work great for starting the coal.But with this warm weather u might find it's alot harder to get it to draft.Mine is still going even with temps in the 70's The stove isn't putting out any heat during the day. It runs just long enough to keep the very small coal bed going..

We bought the Harman Magnum Stoker. Now that it is finally burning, we are running it on the maintenance cycle. The house is comfortable.

We did use something that was small and had a sort of tail when the charcoal did not work, maybe it was a mouse.

Once we changed the thermostat it didn't take long to catch. Finally got it burning with quite a pile of kindling.

Next is an indoor coal bin with the information we have gleaned from the Forum.

When lighting my Harman DVC-500 I learned the hard way that leaving the door open for too long (like a minute) will cause the stove to go into an emergency mode. You can see this by noticing the blinking "status" light on the controls. The reason for this mode is that the stove senses that there is no firebox vaccum and thus fumes could be entering your living space and putting the inhabitants at risk. The emergency mode limits that amount of combustion air and begins shutting the stove down.

What I learned was that after lighting the stove I need to close the door. If I need to tend to the fire, I open the door for short moments and close it again. I have had much better success since learning this (by reading the manual).

Troy

I have been lighting my stove with charcoal and lighter fluid. Hey if it's good enough to cook steaks it works just fine for lighting the stove.

My actual method for lighting my coal stove is taken from the manual... I use wood pellets, making a trench across the middle of the burn plate. I light the pellets in about 10 seconds with a propane torch. As the pellets get red hot in about 2 minutes, I push a thin layer of coal up to the red hot pellets (being careful not to smother them). I add a few more pellets if necessary to keep things going. Ususally the coal will start burning shortly, and then the stove takes over. It takes about 15 minutes total. I have left too soon at times and the pellets burned out before the coal actually started.

Troy